Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

My broody went out for an outing so I grabbed all of her eggs and candled them all. Here is a pic of one of the eggs 4 of them look like this, one has a smaller air sack. Sorry it is hard to see....about half of the egg is dark and the other half is clear like an air sack? 2 of the eggs were glowing all yellow so I broke them open in the burn barrel and they were not alive. No development at all just yolk. So now I am down to 4 possible viable eggs. What do yall experts think????? Are these 4 any good or should I get rid of them and get my broody back to normal life????

It doesn't look like these eggs are going to hatch... but another option is to go to the local Tractor Supply or a local feed mill and get a few day old chicks to slip under her. If you keep her on ping pong balls till you get the chicks she shouldn't know the difference. Just swap them out at night and watch her and the little ones first thing in the morning in case there is any conflicts. Hens frequently are given 'foster chicks' when their eggs fail to hatch.
Advantage to giving her day olds is it means she can be done sitting and will start getting out and about and eating normally again, but risk is that if they don't take to each other then you will need to keep the little ones in a brooder yourself.
You can give her more eggs, but be very careful that her body condition will allow her to sit for another 3 weeks and stay healthy.

 

[chickenz101]

Do all Broodies turn their eggs?

 

[chickenz101]

Do all Broodies turn their eggs?

 

[Johnn]

Do all Broodies turn their eggs?

Yep

 

[Miss Lydia]

Still love each other

 

[gg706]

Thank You bobbieschicks and fisherlady. I am just going take them from her and try to get her back to normal.

I do not feel she is healthy enough to sit for another 21 days. She has lost alot of weight. I got 6 chicks from TSC a week before she went broody so I do not really want to raise anymore chicks right now if she didnt take to them. Hopefully she will forget about it and move on. Thank You all for the wonderful advice! After she has gotten back healthy again if she goes broody I will let her try again.

 

[fisherlady]

Thank You bobbieschicks and fisherlady. I am just going take them from her and try to get her back to normal.

I do not feel she is healthy enough to sit for another 21 days. She has lost alot of weight. I got 6 chicks from TSC a week before she went broody so I do not really want to raise anymore chicks right now if she didnt take to them. Hopefully she will forget about it and move on. Thank You all for the wonderful advice! After she has gotten back healthy again if she goes broody I will let her try again.

Sounds like a good plan.. sorry it didn't work out for her this time, but I'm sure she'll have many more opportunities!

 

[rebecuna]

It's Day 21 today and no sign of anything... but what will I really notice, besides a chick or peeping? I mean, I won't get to watch the chick hatch or anything, right, since they're under her? I'm afraid to get too close to her b/c I don't want to mess anything up. Should I feel under her tonight? To get under her without getting pecked, I have to lift the lid off the cat litter box she's in, which is somewhat disruptive. She's a first-time broody, SS, and has 8 Delaware eggs under her. No luck candling around Day 9-- eggs were too dark or my light wasn't good enough. Thanks for advice... the kids are anxious to see some chicks on Easter!!

 

[bobbieschicks]

It's Day 21 today and no sign of anything... but what will I really notice, besides a chick or peeping? I mean, I won't get to watch the chick hatch or anything, right, since they're under her? I'm afraid to get too close to her b/c I don't want to mess anything up. Should I feel under her tonight? To get under her without getting pecked, I have to lift the lid off the cat litter box she's in, which is somewhat disruptive. She's a first-time broody, SS, and has 8 Delaware eggs under her. No luck candling around Day 9-- eggs were too dark or my light wasn't good enough.  Thanks for advice... the kids are anxious to see some chicks on Easter!!

 

I've had chicks hatch on day 19 and on days 22& 23. They will hatch later if the weather has been very cold or the broody hasn't covered them well.

If they don't hatch by day 25, then I candle and remove any that aren't immediately going to pip. By day 25, unless I've miscalculated the dates, any unhatched eggs aren't going to hatch.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Bunny's eggs are due to hatch on Wednesday but I don't old out hope for them. If they haven't hatched by Friday I will remove them and hope she's ready to give up sitting.